A Wolf Among Others
by Silvia Wright
Summary: Jack Bravo, a.k.a Wolf Alpha, had never intended to be a trainer. His life changed forever when his parents were murdered when he was a child. When Wolf travels to Kalos for his second time on vacation, dealing with the emptiness inside himself, he comes across a blue Kirlia, who refuses to give answers about her origins.
1. Prologue 1

**A/N: This is the first part of a two-chapter prologue. It's probably going to be the most boring part of the story, but then again, when isn't it? Hope you guys and gals enjoy it anyways, please R&amp;R.**

**Also, this assuming ORAS never existed.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, and I am not affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. I'll make the disclaimer more interesting in later chapters, I promise. **

My name is Wolf Alpha, formerly known as Jack Bravo. I'm 16, about 5 ft. 8 in. tall, but it's not as though I'm done growing. I have an average-looking build, maybe a little bit more mature-looking body than most guys my age, but not by much.

All I wanted was to be happy enough to enjoy most of what life had to offer. I never asked for any miracles, never asked for any huge favors, just a simple life. I guess life has a funny way of granting requests, because I got more than that, in a way I never imagined.

Six Years Ago

I woke up in the back of a moving truck, surrounded by cardboard boxes. The gray walls made me feel like I was in some sort of confinement. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then looked at my watch. "4:30" I said aloud, to nobody in particular. My mom said I would be there by 5:00, but who knew how accurate that would be.

Mom… the thought pestered me all of the sudden. I tried to remember spending time with my mom, but couldn't think of anything except fuzzy fragments. In fact, I realized all of my memories were like that. _That's probably for the better, considering it doesn't matter anymore._ I thought. I could remember who I was, who my parents were, the new neighbors names, and where I was going clearly, so that was good.

The truck screeched to a halt, throwing me onto my back. I got up as the door opened. "Is this the last truck?" The Machamp, who had opened the door, asked. I nodded, and got out of the truck. I looked at the new house. I was fairly large, compared to our old house. _So, this is Littleroot Town._ I thought.I walked through the door, and stepped out of the way of a Machamp heading to unload the truck. I saw about 3 Machamps in the room, all of whom were using all four of their arms to unpack the boxes, and put everything where it belonged.

"Jack, sweetie!" my mom yelled, as she ran over and hugged me.

"Hey mom." I replied.

"Oh, these moving Machamps are so convenient! We don't have to do any of the work, and they're so fast! Look at them, they're almost done!"

"Cool." I replied. She always got excited when things weren't as much of a hassle as she expected, and she thought packing and unpacking was going to be this giant ordeal. She also just liked to talk a lot. "Why don't you check out your room? Dad left you a clock for your new room, why don't you go set it? Your room's upstairs."

"Alright." I said. I was used to her just talking now, she could say five sentences before having to take a breath, just because of how much she bantered. I went up the stairs, and went through the first door on the left. The room was pretty bare, but that was probably just because there wasn't clothes and other things stranded all over the floor. I took a look around, and went to the wall to set the clock. When that was taken care of, I walked back down the stairs.

"Thank you so much!" my mom yelled, as the last Machamp exited the room. she turned around, and as she saw me she said "Sweetie, why don't you talk to Professor Birch next door? I'm sure he and his wife would love to meet you. And the Professor said that his daughter, May, is just dying to meet you."

"Alright." I said

"Alright." I said, walking out the door. I was still trying to put together what she said, as she talked as though she was in some sort of competition. "Professor Birch, got it." I said to myself.

When I got to the house next-door, I knocked. A blonde-haired woman open the door. She looked like she was in her early to mid 40's.

"Can I help you?" she asked

"Hi, I'm Jack, I just moved in next door." I told her.

"Oh, of course, I heard about you from my husband! You're Norman's son, right? Come on in!" she said, as I stepped through the door "May's up in her room, I think, she's been dying to meet you." she said

"Alright, thank you Mrs. Birch." I said, as I walked up the stairs. 'This house looks almost exactly like mine.' I thought to myself. When I got upstairs, I looked through the door immediately to my left. It looked like it would be her room, so I stepped inside. Nobody was there, so I stood there for a couple minutes. I heard someone walk in the door, as the tip of a wire clothes hanger was then at my throat.

"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" the person asked. It was a girl, my age, about a quarter inch shorter than me.

I put up my hands like you would at gunpoint."I'm Jack, I'm your new neighbor." I said, as calmly as my ten-year old self could with a metal object at my throat, albeit a coat hanger.

"Oh, hi!" the girl exclaimed. She threw the coat hanger back in the closet, and put her hands behind her back. "I'm May, but you probably already knew that."

She was clearly nervous, I could tell by how she swayed back and forth, and the slight tremble in her voice. I noticed she had a Gamecube in her room. I found that kind of odd, as the Wii was already out, but I decided to keep it to myself. I had one as well, but that was just because I played Super Smash Bros. competitively, and Brawl was kind of… Meh.

"So, uh, what do you like to do for fun?" May asked. I didn't really want to talk, so I just shrugged my shoulders. "Do you, uh, like video games, or pokemon or sports, or uh…" She was clearly flustered at that point, her face a bright shade of red.

Seeing someone's face turn red was a rare sight for me, as my colorblindness made it hard to notice. It's not like I see in black and white, but it makes it hard to tell apart similar colors, as well as shade of red, green, and brown.

"OH SHOOT!" she exclaimed "I WAS SUPPOSED TO HELP MY DAD IN THE LAB!" May ran and got a pokeball from her desk and ran out of the room, her footsteps could be heard through the entire house.

I walked back down the stairs, and out the door of the house, not saying anything, as to avoid conversation. _Might as well go visit dad. _I thought. The thought of wild Pokemon didn't occur to me at all.

As I walked north, a little girl stopped me. I looked down at her as she yelled "Mister, mister help! I can hear someone screaming from over there!"

She pointed in the direction I was heading. Wanting to see what was up for myself, I replied "Alright," and started running north. The screaming started getting louder, and soon I saw a man in a white lab coat running in circles as he was being chased by a wild Zigzagoon.

"Help! Take a pokemon from the bag, and get this thing away from me, hurry!" he screamed.

I took a pokeball from the bag, and pressed the button in the center. An orange, bird-like pokemon with no wings came out of the pokeball. "Tor!" it yelled. I wondered in the back of my mind why pokemon said their name, or part of their name sometimes. I could understand them perfectly, and I was sure everyone else could, so it didn't make much sense.

I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind. "Alright, attack the Zigzagoon." I said, with an unusual clam. I felt as though it was the middle of summer vacation, no stress, no fear, just calm.

"Alright!" the pokemon yelled. It quickly took its talons and slashed the wild pokemon with them. I flinched as talons ripped through the wild pokemon, as though they were blades. I was surprised when the wild pokemon showed no visible injury, and instead just turned and ran.

"Good job," I said to the pokemon, as it let out what sounded like its best attempt to purr. I pressed the button on the pokeball, and the pokemon . I had guessed it was the Professor by the white lab coat.

"Man, you were great with Torchic! You're a natural!" he said. I turned to face him and shrugged. "Thanks for saving me." he said.

"No problem." I said. He looked me over, and stopped at my hair. My gray hair was not well kept, it stuck way up, but I just tied a bandana over most of it.

"Oh!" he exclaimed "You're Jack, Norman's son, aren't you?" I nodded my head. "Come back to my lab, I want to talk with you some more." I followed him to his lab. After a few minutes of him sifting through his belongings and talking to May once we got there, he turned to face me.

"Thanks again for saving me, I would be toast without you!" he said. May yelled goodbye as she left the lab.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, really." I said, hoping he wouldn't act like this forever.

"Even so, you and that Torchic were great. How about you keep him? You two were totally in sync."

"Uh, um-" I stammered. What he said took me off guard. _My own Pokemon? Really?! _Dozens of emotions swirled in my head at once. Then I remembered when the Torchic scratched the wild Zigzagoon. I remember visibly flinching as the claws slashed through the wild pokemon.

"Nah," I said, tossing the pokeball to the professor. I turned and headed towards the door "It isn't really my thing," I said. "I think he'd be better off with someone who will use him."

"Wha- are you sure?!" the Professor asked, clearly shocked by what I said. "You're a natural-born trainer, you two would do great, are you sure about this?"

"Bye, Professor Birch!" I said as I waved. "Thanks for offering!"

I walked out the door to the lab and towards my house. The town seemed nice enough, it was really hard to get lost.

When I stepped through the door to the new house, my mom said "Oh honey, what took so long? I was so worried!" I explained everything that happened, giving as little detail as possible, while my mom prodded my for details every time I didn't give every last one.

"Wow, really?" she asked rhetorically "He offered you a Pokemon, and you didn't take it? That was your dream, to be a trainer!"

I shook my head. "It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be." I said.

After our conversation, I walked outside, not really sure what I was planning on doing. As soon as I stepped off the property line, I May runs up to me.

"Jack!" she yelled at me in a concerned, and slightly annoyed tone. "You were supposed to meet me at Route 103 with your Torchic!"

"I gave him back to your dad." I said.

"YOU WHAT?! But- but… we were..." I didn't know where the "we" came from, but I decided to keep that to myself. "BUT WHY?!" she finally managed to scream.

I told her "I didn't really like battling, it wasn't that fun." I realized that it was a lie; I did enjoy battling; the rush; the way I felt. Something was off though, it was as though I wasn't supposed to keep that Torchic.

"UGH!" she spat out "Fine!" and with that, she stomped away. I couldn't help feeling as though everyone wanted me to become a trainer, as if it was some sort of mandated calling. I didn't care, I felt fine the way I was.

Five Years Ago

It had been almost a year since we had moved into Littleroot Town. I was coming home from working at the Pokémon Center in the next town over. I didn't have a static job, but I got paid to do odd jobs, and sometimes to help stock the Pokémart. It had just gotten dark, and I didn't want to get in trouble by my mom. I rode my bike through the tall grass. I didn't usually encounter wild pokemon, but when I did, I could usually maneuver around the, considering I rode faster than most people considered "safe."

I was nearly home when I started to hear screams. I rode as fast as I could home, my legs pumping at what seemed like speeds that should've broken the sound barrier. When I got near my house, I couldn't believe what I saw.

I saw a gigantic fire where my house was. I quickly got off my bike and was about to run towards the house when I saw a man holding my dad by the shirt.

"Where is it?! Tell us, or we'll kill her!" The man was about average height, maybe slightly below, and he had his hair dyed a light purple. He wore a weird outfit, almost like a costume.

"We'll never tell you anything!" my dad spat out. Blood was coming out of his mouth, and he was looking at mom, who was at gunpoint, being held by another man, identical to the first

"Fine!" The first man said. "Shoot her!" Mom started to scream. I was paralyzed by fear, unable to move, or say anything.

"I'm sorry, Julia." My dad said. I wanted to scream, to help, to do something, but it was as if I was being held by something else.

The man holding my mom pulled the trigger. I loud bang seemed to echo for eternity. That was it. My mom was dead.

"Shoot him too," a third man said. He was about a half-inch taller than the first two, with dark brown hair, parted to the front of his head, rather than the bowl cuts of the other two. He wore the same uniform as everyone else, except it had a few markings on it, as if to show rank.

"Yes, Commander Charon." The first man said. He pulled the trigger. Then he dropped my dad's body. He wasn't breathing. I felt a tear run down my face.

Someone else spoke up. "Any signs of the source?" the man asked. He was slightly taller than the rest, maybe by an inch or two. He wore a similar uniform to all of them, except he had a slightly darker shade of blue, and his uniform seemed to have more decorations on it, as if to make him look more important.

A third man identical to the first two said in reply "Master Cyrus, we found a pile of ash with an extremely large amount of it's DNA, that has to be it."

_Wait a minute, DNA is only for living things, right? _I thought, though the thought was somewhat overshadowed by the other events going on.

"Then it seems we've had some unnecessary bloodshed, Charon." The man, apparently named Cyrus, said.

The one they called Charon replied "Well, we would've had to eliminate the witnesses anyways. Don't want to be tracked down by the League, now do we?"

"I suppose not. Still, it's a shame we couldn't use it to speed up the process." said Cyrus, seeming slightly bothered. "Let's leave. You two, throw the bodies into the fire, make it look like an accident."

And with that, my parent's lifeless bodies were thrown into the roaring blaze.


	2. Prologue 2

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait time. Updates should be more frequent from now on. Also, the story has morphed drastically from my original vision, as you may have noticed from the change in character tags. Be ready for an odd twist at the start of next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. It is property of its rightful owners. If I owned Pokémon, 5th gen would be a lot different. Also Ash would be older (He doesn't have to age, just be anywhere from 14-17.)**

The next day, I was interrogated by Officer Jenny. The league came as well, but they just talked among themselves.

"Are you sure you don't know anything?" Officer Jenny asked. "I know it's hard, but if you know something, we need to know"

I shook my head. "I didn't see anything, I came into Littleroot, and I saw my house on fire. I didn't see anybody there." I lied. I wasn't dumb enough to say anything. If those people knew somebody saw it, they would know who it was.

Somebody knocked on the door. "It's Drake!" I heard a man man call. Officer Jenny opened the door. Drake looked like the captain of a naval ship.

"What did you find? Is anything still intact?" Officer Jenny asked him. I knew she was referring to the stuff inside the house.

Drake told her "Yes. Most of the boy's room was still intact. No evidence there, however, we were able to retrieve all of his belongings." I didn't feel much better at that. None of my stuff mattered to me that much.

Drake continued "We found signs in what was left of the kitchen to show burns from a Type 2 fire." I knew what a Type 2 fire was. It was a grease or liquid fire. You can't put it out with water, and sometimes water makes it worse. You have to use a fire extinguisher that was OK for use for Type 2 fires, as most were.

"So, do you think it was intentional or not?" Officer Jenny asked.

Drake shrugged. "Anyone who's smart enough to try to kill Norman and succeed is smart enough to make it look like an accident."

"Norman's son said he never saw what happened, only saw the fire when it was too late." Officer Jenny said.

"Speaking of the boy, I need to speak to him. I have some concerns, but he deserves to know first." Drake said. What so so important that I need to hear it first? He and Officer Jenny were just talking about stuff I deserved to know as if I wasn't here.

"I want to speak with him alone. If any of the members of the League ask, I'm consoling him. Drake said.

Officer Jenny looked concerned. "You sound like it's not for the League's ears. What about Steven? He's your boss, after all." _The champion is the boss? _I thought._ Isn't it that they weren't allowed to be part of League affairs, because they would be partial towards trainers?_

"I'm doing this for his safety." he said grimly. Officer Jenny looked shocked, but she just nodded and walked out the door. I could hear an audible "Clack!" as the door locked shut. Drake walked over to where I was sitting and placed his hands on my shoulders. I looked up at his face. It was solemn, and I noticed what looked like scars from battle on his face. Drake put on a friendly smile, as though to try to mask the sadness.

"Hey there, kiddo." He said. I didn't say anything back. I looked towards the window for a few moments before turning to face him again. After I turned to face him again, he said:

"Listen, I know you're going through a rough time, to say the least. I understand that I have no idea what's it's like to to lose your parents. If you want to yell at me now, or let out how you feel, I understand."

I shook my head. "Just because I'm mad doesn't make it okay to yell at you, no matter how mad I am." I said "Just because I'm sad doesn't give my the right to make others feel bad along with me." Drake nodded his head slowly.

Drake continued "The Professor and his family have invited you to stay with them. Are you okay with that?" I nodded my head. "Also, as a precaution, since the fire may have been intentional, we need to change your name." Drake quickly added "We don't think it was, but just to be safe. Nobody here knows you anyways, except for Officer Jenny, the Professor's family and the League, so you should be safe." _It's a good thing everyone starts their pokemon journey in 4th grade, so that it's optional for non-trainers. _I thought.

"What about my aunt? And my old friends?" I asked him. Since my grandparents had died, a few months before we moved, my aunt Melissa was my only living relative.

"They've all been told that you died in the fire." he said. "We wanted to make sure the info had no way of escaping, especially since Team Magma and Team Aqua are on the loose. I'm sorry, but it's to keep you safe." I nodded again, not wanting to speak. I had thought when he was going to say 'It's for your own good,' but I guess he was smart enough to know what effect that would have on anyone. "We don't think anyone else knows about your existence, or thinks you're alive after the fire, so nobody should be hunting for you with your old name," he said assuredly. I remember what the third subordinate said that night: "It must be dead."

Thoughts and emotions swirled through my mind. _Was that what I am, an it? Some sort of freak? Am I what they were looking for? _My thoughts were interrupted as Drake lifted his hands off my shoulders.

"Well, what do you want your new name to be?" he asked. "You don't have to think of it right now." he said with a big smile.

I thought for a moment, and an idea came right into my head. "Wolf." I said "Wolf Alpha."

Drake seemed slightly amused. "Alright, that's good. Trying to sound like an alpha male?" I shook my head. He stood there for a second, as if contemplating, and then said "Ah! Trying to keep some faith to your old name?" He laughed. "I like it. It has a ring to it, actually. So, what about your middle name?" He asked.

I thought for a second, and then said "Bay."

Drake laughed, and then said "Alright fine, but if anyone sees your name and it blows your cover, it isn't my fault." His smile faded quickly and he looked back at me. "I also need to give you something." He said, speaking a little softer than before.

He reached into his bag, the kind all trainers carry, and pulled out a wooden box. It looked about 20 years old, and it has a silver-looking keyhole, that was faded from time and dust. "Your father left this in his will for you. Not in the copy people could see before, the private, signed copy. He was keeping it in his safety deposit box, behind a hidden door inside." Drake told me. He handed me the box, and I looked at it. "Your father only told your mother and their lawyer about this. He didn't even tell the Professor." He said.

"What's inside?" I asked.

"I don't know," he replied "But I do know that it's imperative you tell nobody about this."

"Why?" I asked. Drake responded "You father said that what was inside was just for you, and only him and his lawyer could know."

"Then how come you know about it?" I asked him.

"What, you think a member of the Elite Four had to miss out on law school?" He asked jokingly. He roared with laughter.

"Well, I must get going, I'll be off!" He said, handing me a key, as he opened the door and left. I stared at the golden piece of metal he had handed me, before quickly putting that and the wooden box in my backpack. Officer Jenny walked into the room.

"Alright, kiddo." she said. "Time for you to go home." I nodded, and walked out the door, and proceeded out of the building. When I got to the Professor's house, the Professor showed me my room in the attic. Much to my suprise, the attic actually looked like a bedroom. I set my stuff down and sat on the bed.

I opened up my backpack took out the wooden box. I put in the key and unlocked it. I went to open the box, and found I couldn't bring myself to open it. My hands were trembling. I almost felt afraid to open it, as if it was Pandora's Box. I decieded against opening the box, and locked it up again and put it in my backpack. I left my new room and walked down the stairs.

"I'm getting a haircut!" I called out.

_**One Year Ago**_

I was sitting on the back of a Charizard, which was flying at insane speeds west. In front of me was Calem, whom I had met two years prior on a trip to Kalos. He was almost basking in the 110+ mph winds that were assaulting him. While I didn't really mind, I wondered how he still enjoyed it, since he had been flying on his Charizard for years.

"We're gonna land!" He yelled against the wind.

"I'm ready!" I yelled back.

As we slowed down, Charizard started to descend towards a red and white building I recognized as the Pokemon Center. We landed almost right in front of it. I looked to my right and saw Prism Tower, which had more lights than I remembered. After we got off, Calem took out a pokeball and pointed it towards Charizard.

"Thanks buddy, you were great." He said. With a red flash, Charizard was sucked into his ball.

"We should meet the others, before they get worried." Calem said.

"How far away is the hotel?" I asked.

"Two blocks to right." He said. I nodded, and we started running down the sidewalk.

I was looking at my reflection in our room's bathroom. I had just washed my face. My face was definitely clean, but I still looked like a mess to myself. I saw dark rings under my eyes, and my skin looked as pale as a vampire. Somewhere in my head, I was telling myself that I was just being self-conscious, but I was too busy staring at my reflection in disgust to notice. I thought of all the fights I was in recently as I counted all the scratches and bruises I had. Many kids from school tried to pick on me because I didn't have a Pokemon. Usually, it was guys who were trying to gain their reputation back after they had lost fights to me after picking on me once or twice.

I dried off my face and stepped out of the bathroom. As I walked out, Calem opened the door to our hotel room and stepped inside. He set down his bag and walked over. He looked concerned.

"You feeling alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, just tired." I said.

"Well, you know where the beds are. I call the bed in front of the TV." He said.

"Fine by me, that means I get the one by the window."

"Damnit." He muttered, unintentionally loud enough for me to hear.

The next morning, I met the gang at Route 104. We were there to help Professor Sycamore investigate Fairy type pokemon. After an explanation of what we were supposed to do, and getting my Pokédex uploaded with the Kalos software, we split up and started looking for Flabebés. The professor said to examine any Ralts if we saw any, but due to their rarity, and tendency to teleport, we shouldn't focus on them.

After a few hours, I had looked at my fourth Flabebé, which was awesome considering I couldn't go more than a couple yards into tall grass or flowers without being attacked by a wild Ledian. After I talked to it and has it go back into the flowers, I reported back what it said to the professor.

"Thank you, Wolf. You have no idea how invaluable you ability to talk to Pokemon is in my research." He said.

"As long as I have something to do, I'm ok with helping" I told him

He laughed. "Well, I can't say your at fault for that. Also, I think you should have these, just in case you befriend one of the pokemon and it wants to join you. I know you don't have any plans to be a trainer, but you can always give them back if you don't need them."

He extended his hands, which held three pokeballs. I was about to decline his offer, but something about the pokeballs caught my eye. After looking at them again, I noticed he was actually holding luxury balls. I knew I wasn't going to use them, but I couldn't argue with the professor's logic

"I'll keep them as spares in case anyone else needs them, is that alright?" I asked.

"Whatever floats your boat." He said "Metaphorically, of course. The design of boats to have less density than water is what makes them float."

I rolled my eyes as I couldn't help but smile from his "joke". I thanked him and ran back towards the patch of flowers I was at. As I started searching, there was a sound from the forest outside the route. I walked to the line of trees outside the main section of the route, and debated whether I should go investigate. As I stood there, I heard the sound again. It was more quiet this time, but it was much clearer. It was a cry of sheer pain from a pokemon. I could hear the physical, mental, and emotional anguish from the pokemon.

'Fuck it.' I said to myself, and ran into the forest.

I ran towards where I heard the sound. The pokemon cried out once more, before the sounds ceased. When.I arrived at the source of the two cries, I nearly jumped at what I saw. Lying there, unconscious, was a blue Kirlia. It had gashed all over its body, that were gushing blood at an alarming rate. I knew there was no way I could carry it back to the Pokemon Center before it bled out. I reached for the hologram-sender in my belt, and felt the luxury balls the professor gave me.

"Looks like I'm gonna use this after all." I said to myself.

I touched my middle finger to the button on the front of the ball. I let it scan my DNA for a second before I pushed down the button and threw it just above the Kirlia. The Kirlia was sucked into the ball. The ball didn't shake once before clicking. I picked up the ball and clutched it tightly in my hand. I ran out of the forest, and back to the patch of flowers, where the professor and Serena were looking for me.

"Wolf!" The professor exclaimed. "Don't scare us like that, we thought you became plant fertilizer!"

"Where were you?" Serena asked.

I held up the luxury ball. "There was a pokemon in the forest that was unconscious injured really badly. I need to get it to a pokemon center." Serena looked at the pokeball, clearly shocked I had actually caught a pokemon, with how much I disliked the idea of having a pokemon. I nodded to her, to confirm that I had, in fact, caught it.

"Well, it seems like that ball got put to use after all, even if only temporarily." Professor Sycamore said. "Serena, escort him to the pokemon center."

"Right." Serena said, and we raced towards the pokemon center.

I was standing beside Kirlia, who was lying unconscious in a bed provided by the Pokemon Center.

'Poor little guy.' I said to myself.

Actually, I didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl. I felt like it was a bad time to take out my pokedex, but my curiosity got the better of me and I took it out anyways. After confirming that it was, in fact, a female, I slid the pokedex back into my pocket. Kirlia then woke up, and turned to me with a shocked and confused look on her face.

"Hey there, how are you?" I asked. I then got a blast of psychic energy straight to the face, which sent me flying straight into the bed behind me.

"_Who are you?! Where am I?!" _she screamed telepathically at me.

I got up and addressed her as calmly as I could: "My name is Wolf, and you're in the Pokemon Center. I found you in the forest bleeding to death, and brought you here."

"_W-Why?" _She asked.

"Pardon?"

"_Why did you help me?"_

"What else could I have done?"

"_Leave me there."_

I squirmed uncomfortably at the thought of just leaving her there. Even worse was the thought that she expected me to.

"Compassion, or pity. I always get those two mixed up." I said "By the way, I can understand you, you don't need to use telepathy.

"R-Really?" she asked, this time vocally.

"Yep." I said.

"How can y-" She started coughing violently. I stepped over to help her, but she had a psychic barrier up already.

"All you alright?" I asked

"_I'm fine." _She told me telepathically, with an edge to her voice.

"Are you sure? I ca-"

"_I'm fine." _She said, her words coated in bitterness.

"_Why are you so concerned about me? Can't you just leave me alone?:" _Her words were laced with bitterness and frustration.

Normally, I would be mad if someone treated me like this for helping them, but I was too concerned about her 'master', and whether or not he was responsible for her wounds, to care.

"I had to catch you to bring you here alive. As long as I'm your trainer, I'm going to care about you."

She stopped for a moment to take in what I said.

"_You couldn't have caught me." _She said. Confused, I held up the luxury ball for her to see. Her eyes got big.

"_How did you catch me?"_

"I pressed the button on the ball and threw. I've been told that's how you catch a pokemon. "

She sat there quietly. I wanted to ask who the 'master' she mentioned was, but I decided against it.

"What's your name?" I asked

She looked at me with surprise.

"_I don't have one, master." _She said with sudden submissiveness.

"Call me Wolf, I'm not your master"

She looked at me as if I was crazy, but said nothing.

"Well, I don't really think I should just call you 'Kirlia', so how about we give you a name. Does Emma sound alright?"

"_Sure…."_

It was then that the nurse opened the door. I felt Emma start to use me as a human shield. The nurse smiled.

"Oh, it's awake!" She said. "We're not finished doing operations, so I'm gonna have to put her under."

She walked over and pulled a syringe out of her coat. The entire thing was filled. I was growing ever more nervous. She nudged me to the side and pointed the needle towards Emma, who was shaking so much it looked like someone lifting weights on the verge of muscle failure. I moved the syringe away from Emma with my finger.

"Hey, nurse, I don't think that much is necessary to knock her out." I said calmly.

The nurse smiled again. I was overwhelmed immediately with the smell of blood. She suddenly stuck Emma with the syringe. I grabbed the syringe and shoved the nurse away. I threw the syringe on the ground. The 'nurse' was now a Zoroark. It lunged at me. I punched it in the stomach before it reached me and threw it towards the wall to the left. I went to follow up, but it recovered and slashed me in the chest before I gave it a left hook to the muzzle.

I felt the blood trickling down my chest. It lunged at me again, and this time pinned me to the ground and started to choke me. I tried to push it off my chest with no success. As I struggled, I felt an energy surrounding me. The Zoroark looked like it was surrounded by a sphere of light, except the light looked... black? I felt the energy around me pour into my hands, as if I was cupping my hands to catch water. My vision started to grow dark, and I started to lower my arms. Right as I did so, there was a flash of light between us, and Zoroark flew into the ceiling. I turned to looked at Emma. I saw a blue blur go past my vision. Emma was lying on the bed, and I didn't know whether she was conscious or not.

"Sorry... Emma..." I said quietly, before my world went black.


	3. A New Beginning (Again)

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay. I had a really hard time articulating what I wanted to happen in this chapter. I rewrote it so many times I stopped counting. This is gonna be shorter than the previous two chapters (which were originally going to be one, and after they were two this was going to be part of the second.) Thanks to everyone who followed and favorited, I see each and every one of you, and that's what kept me going.**

I woke up on a cot in a traditional japanese style home. I sat up, only to quickly lie back down as my wounds seemed to burn at my flesh.

"So you're awake." A voice said. I turned towards the sound to find a young woman walking into the room. She had dark green hair, and was wearing a pink tank-top and white jeans. I recognized her instantly as Sabrina, whom I had met previously. I was going to flip out, but I was too groggy to let out more than a moan. It was a lot higher than I anticipated.

"You don't seem to be in very good shape, after whatever mauled you." she said. "I'm Sabrina Natsume, the gym leader for Saffron City."

"I know that. It's me, Wolf."

"Wolf Alpha?"

"Yeah."

She looked very troubled at this. I got the feeling something wasn't right, as if she doubted what I said was true. I looked down at my chest to see how badly I got mauled. What I didn't expect was to have a pair of breasts.

"Woah, what the fuck!" I yelled, which sounded more like a girl screaming.

"What?"

"Why do I have boobs?!"

"I guess it really is you." she muttered

"What do you mean?"

She took a deep breath. "You died one year ago in the Pokémon Center, along with a Zoroark that nearly died of its wounds. I eventually ended up taking care of the Kirlia you captured."

"Is she okay?" I asked, Emma's well being immediately coming to the forefront of my mind.

"She's healthy, but she has a startling distrust for people."

I sighed a breath of relief. I was about to tell Sabrina I had named Emma, but decided it was insignificant. I slowly tried to sit up. As I did, I moved my legs around, and pushed them together. Sure enough, I had lady parts there too.

"I still don't understand why I'm a fucking girl." I said

"I don't know either. But it's not very lady-like to swear"

Eventually failing to sit up once more, I groaned at her attempt at humor. She started to laugh at my reaction. I felt a weird sense of familiarity among the uncertainty and shock.

"In all seriousness, your former way of life is over." She told me

"Ah jeez, again?" I mumbled under my breath

"Again?" she asked

"Nothing. So, what do you mean by my former way of life is over?"

"Well, you're kinda a girl now, and you've been dead for a year. Who's gonna believe you if you try to say who you are?"

"Because I recognized your mental signature."

"Oh. So what do I do now?"

"Rest and heal, smart one."

"Okaaayy, how about after that?"

"That's up to you."

Before I made an irritated remark on how ambiguous her last remark was, I looked at her and noticed she was trying not to smile. She was doing pretty well, but not well enough for me not to notice.

"You think you're real funny, don't ya?" I asked, with mock intimidation.

"I know I am." she replied, her straight face starting to crack.

I rolled my eyes, causing her to stifle a giggle. She started to look serious again, and I knew she had something else to talk about.

"What happened in the hospital?" she asked.

Not understanding what she was driving at, I asked "What do you mean?"

"You were in the room with Kirlia when the last person with you left, and all of the sudden your friends hear what sounds like a rampage in the room. They enter to find you and a Zoroark bleeding out, and Kirlia with a fever. What happened there?"

I took a deep breath, then I said: "the Zoroark came in disguised as the Nurse, and without saying much just started to inject Emma."

Sabrina interrupted me. "Emma? Is that…"

I finished her sentence "What I named her? Yes."

She looked somewhat guilty about not knowing, but I chose not to say anything. "Sorry, go on," she said.

"I stopped it mid injection, and it reverted to a Zoroark and started attacking me." I said.

"How did you know it wasn't the Nurse?" she asked

"I noticed it smelled like blood."

"Really? That's unusual. A Pokémon without a trainer doesn't normally have the instinct or drive to kill except for food or when it feels threatened

"I don't know why, I wasn't around long enough to find out."

There was a short silence. I could tell by Sabrina's face that she hadn't gotten what she wanted out of me.

"What I want to know is how you managed to nearly kill the Zoroark." she said

"What are you-" I started, before I had a flashback to what happened. I shook my head to try to clear my thoughts. "I don't really know, to be honest."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It was on me, and then… I felt something, and it was thrown across the room before I knew what was going on."

"And then what?" she asked.

"I died?" I stated in the form of a question.

"Good point," she said. Her serious face disappeared. "I'm going to go do my gym leader stuff, you should get some rest."

"Alright." I said, not really feeling like making a smartass remark.

I closed my eyes, and for the first time I could remember I fell asleep without effort.

For the next week I lied in bed, slept, and ate. After I got the OK from Sabrina to walk and do stuff, she had to leave for a gym leader meeting. That left me alone. I decided to go see Emma, hoping she would recognize me the same way Sabrina did. I walked from the house to the now-empty gym, using the spare set of keys Sabrina left me to get in. Once I found the way to get to where the pokémon were being housed, I was stopped by a Kadabra. I wasn't sure if I could still talk to pokémon, so I approached with caution.

"What is your business here?" it asked vocally, before the same thing was projected to me mentally. The telepathy hit me like a brick, and I was disoriented after hearing it. The good thing was that I knew I could still understand pokémon.

"Can you just talk vocally, please?" I asked. "I can understand you just fine."

"Is that so?" it asked verbally "This is the first I've heard of such a thing being possible."

"Well, it is. I'm here to see a pokémon." I replied.

"This isn't a petting zoo. This is a gym, and this gym is closed." it said.

"I know that. If I wasn't supposed to be here, how do you think I got keys to get in?" I held up the spare set of keys and jingled them.

"I see. With whom are you here to speak?"

"Emma."

"You wish to speak with the Kirlia?"

"Yes, I do. May I?"

"She has a severe dislike for humans. I would not advise approaching her."

"I don't care. Could you please let me through?"

"Very well. I have warned you. She resides in the the eighth room down on your left."

The Kadabra stepped aside and I walked to where he said she was. I knocked.

"Emma?" I called.

"Go away," she said, not to anyone in particular.

"Emma, it's Wolf. Can I come in?"

"You're not Wolf, he died."

"Dead people don't knock on your door."

"You can understand me?"

"I can. I told you I could before, didn't I?"

She opened the door with her psychic power. On a small cot was Emma, sitting with her forehead on her knees. After a few seconds of silence she looked up.

"Why are you…" she stammered

"A girl? No idea." I said.

"No! Why are you here! You're dead!"

"I don't know. If I had an answer, I would tell you."

"So you think that after you've been dead for a year, you can just come over and take me back, and everything would be fine?"

"I never said anything about taking you."

"Do you think I'm stupid? Why else would you be here?"

"To talk. I can't just take you, nor would I want to if you wanted to stay here."

An uneasy silence filled the room. Every second felt like a decade. The tension was so thick you could hit it with a baseball bat and the bat would break. Finally, the silence was broken

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" she asked

"You. I want to know if you're doing alright." I said back

"That's it? You came all the way over here to ask if I'm alright?"

"I only came from a different part of Saffron, but yeah."

"Well, I have food, water, and a home, so I can't really complain."

"What do you do all day?"

"Train my psychic power."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"It's enough to keep me occupied." she said. I could tell she was dodging the question, but I decided not to press further, and instead to end the conversation on a not-bad note.

"That's all I wanted to talk about." I said. "If you ever need anything, let me know. I'll see you later."

"O-okay. Goodbye." she replied

Once I got back I went straight to the bed and laid there. I didn't go to sleep, I just laid there. I thought about what I was going to do now that I didn't have any of my closest friends anymore, or anywhere else to go for help when I needed it. Even though I had Sabrina, I couldn't live with her forever. I felt truly alone.


End file.
